The music of the Dominican Republic is primarily influenced by West African, European, and native Taino influences. The Dominican Republic is mainly known for its merengue and bachata music, both of which are the most popular forms of music in the Dominican Republic, and have been exported around the world.
Juan Luis Guerra Seijas is a Dominican musician, singer, composer, and record producer. He has sold 30 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists. Throughout his career, he has won numerous awards including 21 Latin Grammy Awards, two Grammy Awards, and two Latin Billboard Music Awards. Guerra won 3 Latin Grammy Awards in 2010, including Album of the Year. In 2012, he won the Latin Grammy Award for Producer of the Year.
Merengue is a type of music and dance originating in the Dominican Republic, which has become a very popular genre throughout Latin America, and also in several major cities in the United States with latino communities. Merengue was inscribed on November 30, 2016 in the representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO.
The culture of the Dominican Republic is a diverse mixture of different influences from around the world. The Dominican people and their customs have origins consisting predominately in a European cultural basis, with both African and native Taíno influences.
Juan de Dios Ventura Soriano, better known as Johnny Ventura nicknamed El Caballo Mayor, was a Dominican singer and band leader of merengue and salsa. The merengue legend was a legislator of the Lower House between 1982 and 1986. He also served as vicemayor of Santo Domingo from 1994 to 1998, and as mayor of Santo Domingo from 1998 to 2002.
Dominican Rock is rock music created by Dominican groups and soloists. Originating in the 1980s with the start of Luis Dias' band Transporte Urbano, successful bands such as Tribu Del Sol, Toque Profundo and Tabu Tek began to emerge. Dominican rock is listened to by the youth of the Dominican Republic who have embraced the music, sometimes over merengue and bachata. Rita Indiana y los Misterios are a musical group known for their blend of traditional merengue music with rock.
The 7th Annual Latin Grammy Awards were held for the first time in New York City, NY. The awards show was held at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, November 2, 2006. Shakira was the big winner winning Album of the Year, one of four awards that she won. She is the first female artist to win Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year.
Los Hermanos Rosario is a merengue band, originally consisting of brothers Toño Rosario, Pepe, Rafa and Luis.
Krency Garcia, better known as El Prodigio, is a famous merengue típico accordionist from Cabrera, Dominican Republic. He is known throughout the genre for his rapid instrumental solos, his origination of fusion in merengue tipico with genres like jazz, and his rivalry with fellow accordionists, Geovanny Polanco and Kerube. While the latter two are slightly more traditional, El Prodigio is more experimental, and has included instruments such as trombone, trumpet, and wurlitzer piano in his lineup, along with the standard accordion, tambora, güira, conga, electric bass, and saxophones of today's merengue tipico.
Luis Alberti was a Dominican Merengue musician, arranger, conductor, and author of significant popular songs such as Compadre Pedro Juan and many others performed and recorded by noted interpreters with diverse backgrounds.
While the Dominican Republic is known for shaping merengue and bachata music, its musicians have also melded these influences into the early development of salsa music amongst the Latin community of New York City in the early 1960s. A major development in those initial days of salsa occurred when Johnny Pacheco, a Dominican-born musician living in New York City, teamed with partner Jerry Masucci to create Fania Records in 1964. They started selling records from the trunk of cars on the streets of Spanish Harlem, signing up young artists, creating new sounds, and eventually having hit records. Over the next 15 years, Fania Records helped define the sound, culture, and language associated with the salsa genre, a musical movement that arose partly from the unavailability in the United States of music produced in Cuba.
Luis Díaz Portorreal, best known as Luis Días, was a musician, composer and performer of popular music born in the Dominican Republic.
Antonio Rodríguez Castillo better known as Sexappeal is a Dominican Salsa singer from Santo Domingo. In 2005, he was awarded ''Best Dominican Salsa Singer of the Year'' in the Casandra awards, the most important in the country.
Rafael Solano Sánchez is a Dominican pianist, songwriter, composer, arranger, author, and former Dominican ambassador to UNESCO. He is credited with writing over a hundred songs of various genres that include romantic, folk, as well as choral, religious, and merengue music. His most famous love song, "Por Amor", has been translated into several languages and performed by renowned artists, such as Marco Antonio Muñiz, Vicki Carr, Jon Secada, the Mariachi Vargas, and Plácido Domingo.
Frank Báez is a Dominican poet, editor, and writer, born in 1978 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Antonio Peter De la Rosa better known by his stage name Omega "El Fuerte" or simply Omega, is a Dominican singer and songwriter. He is a modern day merengue artist based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Since 2007, Omega has enjoyed increased popularity in the Dominican Republic and with Dominican-Americans across the United States. He has also penetrated music markets in Spain, Italy and Latin America.
William Reyna, better known by his stage name Sensato del Patio or simply Sensato, is a Dominican rapper from New York City. He is perhaps best known for collaborating with fellow Caribbean musicians such as Pitbull, Fuego, Black Point and Mozart La Para. He first gained major recognition in 2010, when he released the single "Watagatapitusberry" featuring Black Point and Pitbull.
Vicente García Guillén is a Dominican musician, singer and composer. He is the former lead singer of the Dominican alternative rock band Calor Urbano, which he left in 2010 to pursue a solo career. Garcia has collaborated in concerts with renowned artists such as Juan Luis Guerra, Alejandro Sanz, Cultura Profetica, Juanes, Ximena Sariñana and Maná among others. He has won three Latin Grammy awards including Best New Artist in 2017.
Martha Ellen Davis is an emeritus professor from the University of Florida, anthropologist and ethnomusicologist known for her multifarious work on African diasporic religion and music. Professor Davis' research has defied conventional tenets about Haitian and Dominican folk music, and her cultural preservation projects has raised awareness of the significance of the Samaná Americanos' enclave.
Rita Indiana Hernández Sánchez is a Dominican writer and singer-songwriter. In 2011, she was selected by the Spanish newspaper El País as one of the 100 most influential Latino personalities. Her novels prominently feature themes of queerness while the topics of her songs range from Dominican social issues to divergent sexuality. Rita Indiana has been highly recognized and awarded on the Caribbean literary scene, and her viral music success has made Indiana a household name in the Dominican Republic where she is popularly referred to as "La Monstra".
